


Rise

by Ghost0



Series: The Boys Are Back [5]
Category: DCU (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:56:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: Butcher is back, like a bat out of Hell (reference makes more sense when you read the chapter). But the Female Furies succeed in their mission, forcing Maeve to finally step up and lead the charge on Apokolips. Bella is using time travel to do something, but what?
Series: The Boys Are Back [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971640
Kudos: 3





	Rise

MM picked up the bottle of Jack Daniels. He turned and came back out of the aisle, meeting up with Frenchie who had a cart of food. “I don’t know man; this place is kind of sketchy. What kind of grocery store is open twenty-four hours and also sells alcohol? Not even that big of a store.” He turned and looked around him. Not particularly huge, but it seemed to have most of the things people who are up around this hour might be looking for. Either drunks or twenty-some year olds with the munchies. The clerk at checkout left his post and went into the back. Frenchie was looking through all the stuff he had in his cart.

“I don’t ask; I just take what I need.” Frenchie responded. 

“Why are we even doing this? Going out to get food and shit like we live in a frat house.” MM asked. “I don’t think anyone is going to complain if we aren’t fully stocked up on Cheetos or booze. Well, OK I can see the argument for the latter.” He placed the Jack Daniels in the cart with the other supplies.”

Frenchie looked back up. “Food is what helps keeps us moving forward. Give us the boot kick to charge forward. And I will create an exquisite meal before we go out and kick some alien ass.” Frenchie smiled and laughed a bit, getting MM to shake his head and give a little grin as well. The two of them hid their concern when they found out that Billy went up in smoke, saying that they are sure that he will come back just covered in blood and guts. But MM felt that doubt growing just a little bit in the many hours since then. He couldn’t tell how much Frenchie believed that Billy would be fine, it was always a little tricky to tell. But if throwing himself into cooking food is his way of processing, well there are certainly more destructive ways that he was glad he didn’t pick. They started to move towards checkout. MM turned and took a few steps towards the door in the back to get the clerk that was just there.

But before he could get far, the door swung open. The person who stepped out was not young dude covered in tattoos and a lip piercing. She was at a minimum middle aged, probably a little older. Her hair was white, her armor had different colors but her cape was solid orange. She held a rod in her hand, smiling as she made eye contact with MM. He slumped his shoulders as he realized what most likely happened to the store employee and what was going to happen to the two of them.

“Aw shit. Here we go again Frenchie.” His friend turned around, focusing on the strange woman as he pulled a gun out from his back and aimed it at her. The woman chuckled and continued to smile as she walked towards them a little more before stopping in the middle of the aisle.

“Now now boys, no need to be frightened. Granny Goodness is here to take care of you.” Her voice was weird. It tried to come off as comforting and sweet, but when they heard her their skin tingled and they tensed up. Despite her appearance, this old lady was not helpless at all. 

MM grabbed his own gun and held it with both hands as he stared directly at her. “How the fuck did you know where we are or even who we are?”

She smirked. “Oh dearies, did you think your friends killed all of Darkseid’s minions when they attacked? A few got away, we had them hiding and tracking your friends. Found where you were staying and tracked whoever left. I must say, Desaad made things convenient when he upgraded the Parademons, allowing us to see through their eyes.”

“I don’t know who Desaad is, but you better pray we will kill you quickly.” Frenchie put his finger on the trigger.

With that, she gave a big smile with probably the creepiest glare they have ever seen. “You should be praying to Darkseid, that I will spare you and make you his servants instead of killing you.” With that, MM and Frenchie started to shoot at Granny Goodness. Her armor blocked most of it, dodging what she could and using her rod to block a few. She moved forward when she could, aiming her rod and fired a blast of energy at them. The two quickly rushed out of the way, the blast hitting their cart and splattering everything across the windows at the front of the store. When Granny came out of the aisle, MM got close and tried to shoot and close range. She pulled her head back, the bullet harmlessly passing by her head. She grabbed his arm and pulled his shoulder out of his socket. He grunted and held back a cry of pain while Frenchie threw his empty weapon at her head. Barely getting her to notice, she dropped MM and turned towards him. Reaching for his boot, he pulled out a knife and tried to go for the throat. Her hand reached out and squeezed his throat, making him drop his knife and reach at her hand to try and pull her off. She threw him to the side, slamming and cracking the window near the store entrance. She turned back to MM, getting around him. He started to get up, but with one kick she sent him flying towards Frenchie. She very slowly walked towards the two laying and sitting on the ground.

“How disappointing. Perhaps I should have stayed with my Furies and invade your little hideout instead.” They looked up at her with anger. She chuckled and held her rod in both hands in front of her. “It is best that I don’t bring you back. Darkseid would have been disappointed that I gave him such weak servants.” She walked a bit to the side, holding her rod out with one hand. Positioning it so that it would take them both out in one hit. It started to glow, getting charged up and ready to obliterate the two.

The glass was shattered when the car burst through the front of the store, hitting Granny Goodness and sent her flying diagonally across the store. She hit the wall, the rod released from her hand and landing several feet away from her. Frenchie and MM blocked their faces from any incoming debris. Uncovering, they looked at the Chevy Impala that had just saved them from what was certain death. The driver door opened, a familiar coat containing the arms of a man they thought was long away from here. But there was no mistaking the face and the beard it sported. He turned to look down at his old friends. “Don’t worry about trying to get up and do this yourselves lads. Daddy will take care of it.” Butcher pulled a crowbar from the car, closing the door as he walked along the car, lightly dragging the weapon across the hood of the vehicle. He cracked his neck as he walked towards Granny Goodness, who was starting to get up and look at her attacker.

“My my granny. What fat fucking arms you have.” Butcher gave a dark grin as stopped a few feet in front of her. He looked down to meet her glare as she rose up from the ground. Frenchie reached over and helped put MM’s arm back in his socket. He grunted and nodded in thanks, turning his attention back to the man back from who knows where.

“All the more to rip out your intestines, my dear.” She straightened up once she got back on her feet.

“Kinky. How about we start off with a lighthearted crack in the skull?” He lunged forward, bringing his arm up and swinging it to the side. Granny ducked beneath the crowbar, using her leg to kick his feet out from under him. Instead of simply crashing onto the ground, he moved backwards while on the ground, getting back up. As he moved, Granny turned her attention back to her rod and moved to it. Billy moved fast, using one end of the bar to stab her right in the back of her hand. Growling, she punched him in the stomach, making him lean over. She used her damaged hand to form a fist and brought it upwards to connect with his face. Blood came out from his mouth as he leaned back and fell on the ground. She grabbed her weapon, Butcher forcing himself to sit up as she stood before him.

“You are very naughty! To attack Granny with a car, trying to kill her!” Her glare changed, turning into a twisted grin. “But I think I can teach you some manners. Make you a respectable soldier in Darkseid’s army. Not many that can land any kind of wound on Granny.”

“That sounds splendid luv.” Billy spat some blood onto the ground near him. “But if you don’t mind, I do have something I want to say first.”

She gave a curious look, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders. “By all means. It won’t change your destiny child.”

When she said that, he gave a laugh. She frowned down at him and his two friends off to the side stood up and just stared at Butcher. At first they thought he must have lost it, probably a result of being sent god knows where. But he stopped laughing, bringing his eyes up to meet Granny’s annoyed glare. “Gone, gone o form of man…and rise the fucking demon Etrigan.” His body was consumed by fire that came from nowhere, reaching up from the ground to swallow him whole. And the thing that leapt out of the fire and grabbed onto Granny was yellow skinned underneath red tights and a blue cape. He snarled, opening his mouth full of sharp teeth to breath fire onto his opponent. 

Grabbing his cape, she flung the demon off of her and into a food shelf. This knocked it over, causing the rest of the shelves to fall down. She yelled out in anger as she held one hand to her face that got burned. She aimed her rod and instantly fired. But the demon moved out of the way before she could even aim it at her. He lunged and bit on her arm, his teeth sharp enough and his mouth applying enough pressure to break through the alien metal. She yelled out in anger. Using her other hand to force his mouth off of her arm and pushed him back. The demon stared at the New God, who used a Mother Box to open a Boom Tube and retreated back to Apokolips. MM and Frenchie started to move away from the wall, circling around the nasty looking demon that had replaced Butcher. 

“Gone now, o Etrigan.” The demon had a deep voice, with a vague melodic tone to it. “And rise again, the form of man!” Fire once again consumed the entire body, shortly dying down to reveal Butcher standing in his place. He turned around, his mouth no longer having blood dripping out of it. 

Frenchie held his arms out to the side, his eyes wide and in shock. “What the fuck was that?”

“I’ll tell you what that was. Fucking diabolical!” Butcher laughed as he turned to his friends. MM crossed his arms. Billy stopped laughing and nodded. “All right, you want to know. Well boys, looks like Hell exists. Met someone, charming fellow, likes to make everything a rhyme. Can be annoying if you don’t adjust. Turns out he had a good friend get killed by our alien guests and agreed to help me get back if he can hitch a ride long enough to get a few licks in himself.” He shrugged. “Seemed like a good deal to me, helping each other out to beat the fucking shit out of some blokes. But fuck that for now, where’s Becca and Ryan?”

As soon as he asked that, Frenchie remembered what Granny Goodness had told them. “Shit! We need to go now! That crazy lady, she said that there were others back at base, sent to attack!” Billy got a concerned look on his face. All three of them started to leave the destroyed store. MM and Frenchie got in the van, Butcher got into the Chevy Impala that he hot-wired and they raced back to base.

******

Scott and Barda rushed out of the room and looked around. Spotting Ryan, Scott ran to him and grabbed him. “You see anyone weird?” He shook his head, Barda grabbing her rod and looking up and down the halls. They got the word from Bella as she ran by their room. It wouldn’t be long before Barda ran into her old friends. 

“Traitor!” Barda turned to face Mad Harriet. She hunched over, extending her claws and smiled wide as she glared. Barda crouched, readying her weapon. The two then lunged at each other, Barda punching Harriet in the collarbone and throwing her aim off. She used her shoulder to slam her into the wall. The noise brought the others out form the nearby room, only to be faced with another Fury. Lashina held two steel whips, crackling with electricity. Kimiko dodged the first strike, trying to use the wall to move around and jump at her. But the other whip struck her in the stomach, making her fall and clutch her stomach. 

Starlight’s eyes glowed, the lights constantly flickering as she built up energy. She raised one hand up to fire, but at the same time Lashina used one of her whips strike at Annie’s palm, forcing her to retract her hand. She was able to dodge most of the blast, but still got grazed and had to find her balance. Hughie pulled out a gun and aimed, but a whip wrapped around his arm and pulled him forward, slamming him onto the ground beneath him. Scott told Ryan to head back into the room with his mother, joining Barda as she sparred with Harriet. He turned to see Becca come out of the room, holding her hand out to Ryan as he approached her. But then a third woman came out from the shadows, grabbing onto her neck and squeezing it tight. She struggled, grabbing onto the woman’s hand trying in vain to make her let go. The woman turned to look down at the young super powered boy. She pulled out a knife and pointed the blade at Becca’s stomach. “You have a choice boy. You can try and kill me, use your lasers to shoot me down and burn my body. But I am quick enough to stab her first. Her insides will burn, setting her entire body on fire until she submits to the overwhelming pain and lets the embrace of Death take her away from you. Or surrender yourself to us now. Submit yourself to Darkseid’s will, and your mother shall live, as well as the rest of your friends. Make a decision quickly.” Ryan took in shallow, quick breaths, his mind racing as he looked around him. All of them fighting and struggling but no one making much ground on either side. He turned back to see his mom, struggling and looking at him. He could see in her eyes that she didn’t want him to go. But he felt like that was the only option he could make. A couple of tears rolled down his face, nodding his head and looking downward.

The woman threw Becca back into her room, holding her knife. “So young and yet wise enough to know when to surrender. You will serve Darkseid well.” Raven came out of the room, her hands glowing dark and ready to fight. Noticing her, she grabbed and turned Ryan around, holding the knife to his neck. “Continue and I will kill him right now.” Ryan wasn’t sure if that knife could kill him, considering his Super origins, but his gut told him to remain still and not move. The heroes glared and looked at each other, trying to see if anyone can come up with a plan on the spot. Several moments passed with nothing being said. The woman nodded to others, Lashina pulling back her whips and joining her leader. Harriet was a moment longer, licking her lips as she glared at Barda before retreating. Once the three joined around Ryan, there was a BOOM and then they were gone. As it happened, Becca found her breath and tried to reach him before the tube closed. But when she came back out in the hallway, they were already gone.

That was when Maeve came down the stairs and entered the hallway. Looking at them, a couple of them nursing wounds as they looked amongst each other. Maeve only needed to look at Becca, who covered her mouth and sobbed, to know what had just occurred. She moved forward, unsure of who to go to or what to say. The door opened again, more people coming out. She turned and widened her eyes a bit as she saw Butcher come out and instantly go to Becca. If she showed initial surprise or shock at his appearance, it was brief as she returned to crying. They hugged each other, MM and Frenchie moving forward and talk amongst the others to figure out what happened. Grace pulled them into the room to talk to them about what they had missed. Maeve turned down a hallway, heading towards her assigned room to think.

As Maeve went off in isolation, Bella sat down and looked helplessly at Jay laying on a bed. J’onn was standing over him, inspecting his wound. He tore off the bottom half of the pants leg to get better access to the wound. “How bad is it?” She looked up to the Martian for answers. “Wait, do you actually have a medical license? No, not important right now.” She shook her head, standing up and crossing her arms. “Just tell me, please, anything you know.” She looked down at Jay, his eyes closed and his mind slipped into unconsciousness. 

“Due to Jay’s healing factor, he will be able to heal and have full access to his abilities in a couple of hours.” He informed the young girl. “Until then though, he should get rest and stay off it. The claws did some damage that will need Jay’s full focus to properly heal.” He could sense that Bella just needed to be alone for a bit, so he left to speak to the others. Bella sat back down and looked at her mentor, thinking hard about something.

******

“Where the fuck have you been?” Annie yelled out to Lamplighter, who had entered the meeting room back in his old Super outfit. He stared back confused.

“That Director Lee wanted to make sure I had all my testimony and shit for those lawyers for the trial. In case I get torn apart by aliens.” He looked among the rest of them, seeing Hughie with a bandaged arm and Kimiko still rubbing her stomach where the whip had hit her. “What did I miss? Training session gone wrong?”

Annie glared at him. “Ryan got kidnapped.” She responded. This got him to fully focus on her, a look of surprise and slowly realizing horror at what had happened. 

“Fuck…Homelander’s kid? How’s the mom, what’s her name…?”

“Becca. You would probably have learned the name if you were actually here planning with us.”

“Enough Star.” Grace looked over at the two of them. “They want to nail Vogelbaum as hard as possible. Probably pressured into handing him over for a bit, got as much as they could out of him.”

Annie raised her eyebrows over at Grace. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re OK with those suits taking away one of our guys just so they can prepare for a fucking trial that probably won’t happen unless we are at full strength?”

She stared right back at the Supe. “Of course not. But what good could he have done? Chances are he would try and burn the woman holding Ryan but end up taking the kid down too. It might have been better that he wasn’t here to be honest, but no I don’t like being told who I can or can’t have.”

Lamplighter just stared down as Grace spoke. Annie held her ground, looking around the room. “I don’t know. Maybe put him up against that whip girl, and have me or Kimiko- “

“You can control the size of your rays now?” Grace shot back. “Otherwise you would have taken out both of them just as easily as he could have. Kimiko probably wouldn’t have made it to her in time before she sliced his neck open and let him bleed out.”

“What is your deal?” Annie practically growled at her.

“Enough Starlight.” Lamplighter spoke up, getting a surprised look from the blonde woman. “She knows Supes better than us.”

The three of them continued to argue about what might have happened if Lamplighter was here. MM and Frenchie hanged out with Kimiko, but Hughie had to step out into the hallway. He held and rubbed his bandaged arm, his skin getting a little torn from that electrified whip the woman had. He heard a door opene and turned to see Maeve. There was a sword near her waist and a shield thrown over her back. He looked at her as she simply stared forward and walked. ‘Where are you going?”

“I’m talking to that Scott guy and have him hand over that box. I’m going to get Ryan myself.” Hughie reached out and grabbed her arm, instantly getting her to stop and stare him down. But unlike in the past, he didn’t look away or begin to go off on some weird tangent. The stress of so much happening in so little time, the disappearance and barely explained reappearance of Butcher and the kidnapping of a kid with Homelander’s abilities forced Hughie to realize he has to take charge in some way. Even if that means finally talking some sense into someone who could very easily use her knee to break his back.

“So you are going to go to some alien world, fight through who knows how many of those fucking Parademon shit weasels and maybe even go up against the big bad himself? I’m sorry, I don’t care what is going on in your personal life with Elena or whatever, but that is easily one of the stupidest things I have heard in a while.” She raised her eyebrows, but he went on. “I’m beginning to think you were only picked for a leader of a new team because you had been around longer than Annie or any of the others. Not because you actually know how to think about others and try to work with them- “

“If I take let them come with me, they’ll die.” Hughie stopped, Maeve ripping her arm out of her grip. “You got me all figured out? All right, you have a point. I have no fucking clue what my strategy is when I land on planet Armageddon. So it’s better that I only suffer for it, not the rest of them too.” They simply stared at each other. She exhaled through her nose. “When I told her about everything in my past, she couldn’t feel comfortable or safe with me. And it’s probably for the best. Just like this.”

Hughie rubbed his face in frustration. “God damn it…enough with the self-pity! Yea, you did some fuck up shit and allowed shit to happen. But do you want to continue doing that, or do something different to actually show you are trying to be what you want to be?” He looked back up to meet her eyes. Annoyance and anger were gone, but Hughie wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. It wasn’t anything intense, maybe it even wasn’t aimed at him. But something was going on in her head for sure.

She reached for the door, opening up into the room where Hughie stepped out from. “Team Alpha and boys. And the douche with the big torch. Come on, we’re going on a field trip.” She left the door open, giving Hughie a look and moved forward. Realizing she was talking to him too, Hughie joined the rest of the crowd. Grace followed behind, wondering just what is going on, and Maeve opened up the door into Becca’s room. Butcher, Scot and Barda were in there as well. “Hey Scott. Mind sending us to your home planet so that we can end this fucking shit for good? Oh and feel free to come Butcher.”

Scott looked between Maeve and Barda. But then Grace moved her way towards Maeve. “What strategy could you possibly have? What weapons?”

“Strategy will be on the fly. Pick up weapons on the way out for the fellas. Annie, you can still shoot from that hand, right?” She looked up and nodded. 

Grace shook her head. “Your all going to get yourselves killed.” She addressed the rest of the group. “And you are all OK with these people leading you to certain death?”

Silence hung over them for a long moment. It was MM who first broke the silence. “I don’t know about everybody, but I did a lot of shit for Billy. Going to save his wife’s kid might be the only I did for him that doesn’t feel fucked up.”

Frenchie then spoke up. “Parademons not so different from Supes. Just got to use more bullets.” Hughie grinned, not speaking but giving a nod as well. He looked over Grace’s shoulder to see Butcher get up and lean against the door. 

“I didn’t crawl my way out of a fire pit to just sit around and wait. I’m going to kick some bloody skulls in.” He looked at Mallory, a silent conversation being exchanged in a matter of seconds. She stepped back and looked over to the group. It appeared as though she wanted to say one more thing, but just looked away and walked back. 

Scott stood up and placed a hand on Barda’s back. “I won’t ask if you will be all right without me. Because I know you should be asking me that.” 

Barda nodded but also gave a smile. “Get them all out in one piece.” He leaned down and kissed her as he walked over. As he closed the door behind him, Becca gave Butcher one look that said everything she needed to say. He was able to give one nod before it finally closed. 

From the hallway came Raven. “J’onn could tell what was going on. Thought it might be best to I tagged along. He will stay with Jay and Barda fight off people here. So, do any of you actually know what you’re doing or is this a suicide mission?”

“Two groups. One to go looking for Ryan. The other heads straight to the big bad himself. Only question is who wants to go where?” Maeve addressed the group.

Butcher stretched his neck. “The kid is mine.” As soon as he said that, the boys that got around him. “Just fill us up with all the guns in this bloody building and we will blow it sky high if we need to.”

“Once we get there, I will join you guys.” Scott pulled his mask over his face. “I have been in every chamber and cell in that place. I know where they are, who guards them and how to get out.”

Maeve looked towards her usual team of Kimiko and Annie. “Guess that leaves you two with me. Raven, you want to join?” She nodded and drew closer. She gave a look at Lamplighter. She hadn’t paid close attention to him since he joined them. But he does look different somehow. He looked like he actually understands the weight of things around him, not quite as brazen and arrogant as he used to be. She motioned with her hand to join her group. “Come on. This might be the closest you get to actually feeling like a damn hero.” He picked his head up, taking a second to realize she actually meant it before nodding and tightening his grip on his lit torch. 

Once the teams had been divided, the boys found the weaponry and stocked up on every weapon they could carry on them. Even though Billy was packing a secret demonic weapon, he still felt better having a few guns in his hands. Scott spoke with Maeve, telling her what to expect when they land and giving her the directions of where to go to find Darkseid. It took some prep time, practically morning when everyone was prepared. But they gathered together, the tube opening with a loud BOOM and they all left this planet to carry out their final plan on Apokolips.

******

Weird images flashed in Jay’s mind. Streaks of green surrounded the images, blurred them as they transitioned to new images. He opened his eyes and sat up, grunting at the pain caused by the sudden movement.

“Where’s Bella?” He spoke the question before even checking the room to see if anyone was there. But he turned to find J’onn nearby. “Have you seen her recently?”

“Not for a couple of hours I’m afraid. I had to coordinate with Grace and the rest of the military leadership on the defense strategy.”

He swung his legs around and pressed his feet on the ground. As he tried to stand up, he almost fell down. But he grabbed onto the bed and J’onn came over to wrap his other arm around his shoulders. “Strange visions…I think she might have time travelled again. Who knows what she might be up to or what she could change.”

J’onn gave made sure that Jay could stand on his feet. “I will send a message back to him at JLA headquarters. I have been able to keep in communication while on this planet, mainly thanks to his focus and abilities rather than my own. He was informed me that he can bring someone else with him to help out. He can help bring her back and reset things if need be. In the meantime, while we wait for them, Barda will help us.”

Just as he finished that sentence, Jay looked out the window and saw one of several portals opened up. Out from the tubes came the Parademons, flying towards the ground and buildings. Lightning crackled around Jay, the Speed Force making sure his injury was fully healed. The Flash and The Martian Manhunter raced out of the room to join Big Barda and this Earth’s military as the fight began.


End file.
